In the run-up to the war in Iraq, the supposedly liberal US commentator, Tom Friedman tried to rally progressives to the war camp with the argument (I'm paraphrasing) "somethings are still right, even if Bush thinks they are".
While I do not agree with Friedman's position on the Iraq war, I do accept the principle he was espousing. Every once in a while, I find myself agreeing with the US president. It sends a shiver down my spine and I feel like I need a shower, but still I can't deny it.
I had such an experience a few weeks back when Bush was visiting Europe. On most issues, like Iran, I would tend more to the European viewpoint than to Bush's. But on the matter of the proposed lifting of the EU's arms embargo against China, I side with the man from Texas. As someone who lived in Taiwan for two years, I could not but applaud Bush's opposition to the lifting of the embargo. I don't want my friends in Taiwan to be confronted by sophisticated European weaponry.
Had I never lived in Taiwan, I would probably never have adopted the cause of Taiwanese independence as one of my pet interests (somewhere between Palestine and Hugo Chavez, in the emotional pecking order). This is a shame. Taiwan should be a cause celebre for the global left, indeed for anyone who values democracy and human rights. Yet this is not the case.
In fact those who support Taiwan tend to be American conservatives, sometimes of a very extreme bent. They see Taiwan as a useful tool for keeping China weak. I doubt many of them are genuinely interested in Taiwanese democracy, since the American right backed, not just the democraticTaiwan of today, but also the authoritarian Republic of China of yesteryear.
Perhaps some on the left are put off supporting Taiwan because of the ideologfical company they would have to keep in doing so. But they shouldn't be. The story of Taiwan's journey from one-party dictatorship to multi-party democracy is one of the great life-affirming political tales. Yet it remains virtually unknown outside of the island.
It is quite something to stand in Taipei, the capital of Asia's most democratic country, and to realise that very recently, it was all very different. These days the press is uncensored, there is freedom of religion and the country's differing ethnic and linguistic groups live in remarkable harmony. The parliament fizzes with debate and playground stunts. At election times, party workers in brightly coloured uniforms prowl the streets looking for voters.
Yet up until 1987, Taiwan lived under martial law. Lue Dao (Green Island) which is now a popular tourist destination was once a prison colony. The first fully democratic election for the presidency was as recently as 1996. Most of Taiwan's current rulers are familiar with the inside of a prison cell.
If the Chinese were ever to impose some sort of Hong Kong shamocracy on Taiwan, something precious, something vital, would be lost.
Bush, or no Bush, that is the truth.